“Life can get you down, so it’s up to you to find things to build yourself up again.”
Whitney Riley, class of 2021, is an avid artist, a connoisseur of Hubert’s Lemonade, and a John Mulaney fan. She has been a part of the SMES Equestrian team since the 8th grade, but has ridden horses outside of school since she was five years old. She is also a graphic designer for a charitable clothing company called Omushana, which donates solar lanterns to families in Uganda that have unreliable sources of light (you can find her t-shirt designs here). Whitney loves frogs, stickers, wearing fun button ups, and cuffing her jeans. She dislikes pickles, oysters, and getting her blood drawn.
Throughout high school, Whitney has participated in SMES art classes, which she says “have been a great opportunity to expand [her] art skills and build up [her] portfolio.” She has also competed in the IEA (Interscholastic Equestrian Association) horse shows for St. Margaret’s for the last four years. “I’ve grown so much with my horse, Ruby, during these competitions,” she says, “and even though I’m sad that they are cancelled due to the current circumstances, I look back on these shows with fond memories and know that they were the building blocks for where I am now.”
Since Whitney has grown a lot in the last few years, there are just a few things that she wishes she could go back and tell herself before starting high school. “Please please please for the love of God have better study habits… future you still struggles with this.” She urges freshmen to develop good study habits, time management skills, and “an actual sleep schedule” their freshman year, because as high school goes on, it is hard to break the bad habits that you developed. “Please don’t procrastinate, you are SO going to regret it later when you have to pull an all-nighter with a fifteen page history paper due the next day,” she warns. And to the rising seniors, she says to “make good connections with all of your teachers, and your college counselor as well.” She says that having a good connection with your college counselor can help you to kickstart your college application process. “If you get all the boring and stressful college apps done earlier, you can have more time to enjoy all the fun parts of senior year. I know this is kind of practical advice and not cool kid advice, but seriously, it helps a lot!”
On the note of enjoying the fun parts of senior year, one lesson that Whitney has learned from high school is to enjoy the little things in life. She talks about the stress that school and homework can bring, but says that being with her friends and going outside has helped to alleviate some of this stress. “Be spontaneous and flexible,” she says. “Go get that late night milkshake at Handel’s. Blast loud music in the car. Appreciate the smell of cinnamon sticks in Mrs. Allison’s room and how nice the sun feels as you make that long trek to art class. Life can get you down, so it’s up to you to find things to build yourself back up again.”
In fact, one of Whitney’s favorite high school memories was one of the little, spontaneous moments that many may not appreciate. When reading Walt Whitman’s ‘Song of Myself,’ in her English III Honors class, there was a line that read “I sound my barbaric yawp over the roofs of the world.” Whitney remembers how “Ms. Bunch told us to put our books down… and asked us if we wanted to let out a “barbaric yawp” ourselves.”
“Only slightly confused,” she recalls, “my class followed Ms. Bunch in her beeline towards the bleachers on the Tartan Field. The English class was buzzing and laughing with the spontaneity of this little field trip.” She recounts the trek to the highest point of the silver bleachers, where the class stood and screamed the word “yawp!” from the top of their lungs, Ms. Bunch urging the class to go louder and louder. “I remember loving that moment because it felt freeing and stress-relieving, but also because it was a really unique experience for what one might think was a formal class based on its title.”
Following her own advice, Whitney found joy in the little moments of high school, and seeks to do so throughout her senior year. Looking forward to the end of this year, Whitney says that the senior tradition that she is most excited for is the end of the year water balloon fight. “Not only is it so fun to watch the seniors make a watery mess out of the quad,” she says, “but you can see the pure joy and excitement on their faces as they open a new chapter of their lives while spending some of their last moments together as a class.” She can’t wait to experience this bittersweet moment, as well as the rest of her senior year, with her friends and classmates by her side.
Responses have been edited for length and clarity.
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